The housing secretary gave companies until 13 March to sign the agreement

[GoldfishLord]

The housing secretary gave companies until 13 March to sign the agreement aimed at addressing cladding issues exposed by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65070636

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I'm trying to understand the sentence as a whole. However, I'm curious about what "gave" means.
Does "gave" mean "make" or is "gave companies until 13 March to" a short form of "gave companies until 13 March the opportunity to"?

 

[SoothingDave]

The secretary established a deadline for them to sign the agreement. She gave them until 13 March.

 

[GoldfishLord]

It seems to me that "until 13 March" acts like a noun. What do you say?

 

[Tarheel]

I don't think so.

 

[Barque]

However, I'm curious about what "gave" means.

It has its normal meaning. The direct object of the verb "gave" has been omitted.

The housing secretary gave companies time until 13 March to sign the agreement.
"Companies" is the indirect object and "time" is the omitted direct object.

The word "time" has been omitted because it's considered obvious from the context. You came close when you asked if it was "the opportunity".

Does "gave" mean "make"

I'm surprised by this. I've never come across "gave" used to mean "make". What do you mean by this?

And what do you think the sentence would mean if "gave" meant "make"?
The housing secretary make companies until 13 March to sign the agreement ...

 

[Rover_KE]

Does "gave" mean "make"?

No. That wouldn't make sense.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't think of any context in which "gave" would mean "make". For a start, "gave" is the simple past but "make" is the simple present/infinitive. Even if it were possible, "gave" would mean "made". It doesn't.

 

[jutfrank]

When talking about telling someone to do something, with a time limit, we use this construction:

give + somebody + limited period of time + to do something

I'll give you five seconds to answer!
We gave them two weeks to finish the roof.
They gave me until Saturday to find the money.

You can use a similar construction with 'have' in its stative sense of possession:

You have ten seconds to comply.
You have until the 1st of July to complete your application.

It seems to me that "until 13 March" acts like a noun. What do you say?

Yes, I understand what you mean. The 'until' phrases are performing the 'limited period of time' part of the construction. They're preposition phrases but they're acting in a 'thing-like' way, in the same way that five seconds and two weeks (noun phrases) are. As Barque drives at in post #5, the phrase until 13th March, as one of the arguments of the verb, is semantically equivalent to a noun phrase such as 'a time period starting now and finishing on the 31st of March'.

 

[GoldfishLord]

Yes, I understand what you mean. The 'until' phrases are performing the 'limited period of time' part of the construction. They're preposition phrases but they're acting in kind of 'thing-like' way, in the same way that five seconds and two weeks (noun phrases) are. As Barque drives at in post #5, the phrase until 13th March, as one of the arguments of the verb, is semantically equivalent to a noun phrase such as 'a time period starting now and finishing on the 31st of March'.

I'd also like to ask a question about your own usage of English.
Is "kind of" an idiom, meaning "to some small degree"?

 

[Tarheel]

@GoldfishLord It's a two-word phrase, yes.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd also like to ask a question about your own usage of English.
Is "kind of" an idiom, meaning "to some small degree"?

You caught my post before I'd finally edited the text, so please just ignore this. I've since removed kind of from my post.